well immigration will just have to accept the same proof of pension from the providers that we were previously showing the embassy to get the letter. In my book that means I save over 2,000bht I used to pay the embassay .

well immigration will just have to accept the same proof of pension from the providers that we were previously showing the embassy to get the letter. In my book that means I save over 2,000bht I used to pay the embassay .

Well it looks as if the only way you can demonstrate your income is by having it paid into a Thai bank account. So if you were doing that then yes you save 2,000 Baht. ( there is no proof that this will be accepted by Thai immigration)

Thinking that the Thai immigration has to accept anything different is an exercise in futility. Assuming that deposits into a foreign bank account, or pension statements, without a certificate from the embassy are going to work is a hide into nothing.

But good luck with trying that, if you do then you had better have an account with 800k Baht seasoned for 3 months as a backup that you can show when and if you get turned down on un-certified foreign income

gov.uk government wrote:British Nationals should now demonstrate that they have an amount of at least 800,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 65,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand for a retirement visa. For a marriage visa, the amounts are 400,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 40,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand. A bank statement should be used as the supporting document for obtaining a Thai retirement or marriage visa.

well immigration will just have to accept the same proof of pension from the providers that we were previously showing the embassy to get the letter. In my book that means I save over 2,000bht I used to pay the embassay .

you really think thats going to work??????immo going to accept same paperwork as embassy can't now accept?

[/quote]you really think thats going to work??????immo going to accept same paperwork as embassy can't now accept?
[/quote]
As I read it the embassy are unable to provide the info immigration are now requesting, not the embassy won't accept what we provide, so the question must be what does IMMI now want they didn't need before, especially as the Uk embassy was quite strict about checking what we provided before , especially compared with the USA who virtually only required their people to just swear an affadavit without any back up proof that it was genuine .Surely they will have the same problem satisfying immi as well .

As I see it the big change is that the 65k monthly or 800k yearly now has to be in a Thai bank account.Before it didnt have to be.
Also the Embassy income letter used to quote the income amounts BEFORE TAX.eg
68k before tax
63k after tax
So that could affect people also.

Just when I thought our chance had passed,you go and save the best for last.

As I read it the embassy are unable to provide the info immigration are now requesting, not the embassy won't accept what we provide, so the question must be what does IMMI now want they didn't need before, especially as the Uk embassy was quite strict about checking what we provided before ,

It doesn't read as if immigration is asking for anything new.

The British Embassy Bangkok is stopping the certification of income letters because it is unable to fulfil the Thai authorities’ requirements to verify the income of British Nationals.

It just reads as the Thai immigration is requiring that the British embassy verify the income and that means they would actually have to do some work and being civil servants they can't be arsed.

Some time ago (for a very short time) the Aust Embassy required proof of income before signing (witnessing) our statutory declarations - instigated by some jerk on his high horse in the Embassy. This was obviously against Aust law as they are ONLY notarizing the writers signature on a legal document. NOT the contents!

This document has always been readily accepted by the Thai Imm system.

Surly the UK embassy must provide a notary service - which is all that is required. None of their business what is written on the declaration! As applies to us and Americans.

Thailand will tolerate corruption in its ranks of officialdom, but shudders at the thought of foreigners pulling a fast one on them. They're looking for a way to skim all the gravy off the top themselves. Cutting the embassies out of the loop will clear the way for any "fakers" to resort to other avenues of deceit. Score!

As the British Embassy (BE) has over the years made huge amounts of money from providing these letters,I am hopeful,that they will find a way to appease the Thai authorities and still produce these letters. The loss of this income will hurt the BE. Luckily enough my UK state pension just kicked in this weekend, that plus my military pension achieves the 65k being paid into a Thai bank account. Let’s hope for a steady increase in the £ to Baht rate in the upcoming Brexit negotians period.

As the British Embassy (BE) has over the years made huge amounts of money from providing these letters,I am hopeful,that they will find a way to appease the Thai authorities and still produce these letters. The loss of this income will hurt the BE. Luckily enough my UK state pension just kicked in this weekend, that plus my military pension achieves the 65k being paid into a Thai bank account. Let’s hope for a steady increase in the £ to Baht rate in the upcoming Brexit negotians period.

I doubt that, my observation is that the BE is quite happy to offload anything they can, regardless of falling income or benefit to it's nationals .The only problem for me is that now I will have to have all my pensions paid into this country, whereas previously I only had to prove I was in receipt of them, so didn't, or alternatively increase the amount in my Thai bank, neither option thrills me I must say.

According to a thread i read on Thaivisa, immigration know nothing about this change. Of course, keeping the public and their own staff informed is not a common occurrence in Thailand .....

Anyway, looks like we will need to keep our eyes ans ears open for POSSIBLE future changes to immigration's requirements. Will immigration accept our pension statements? Will they accept untrackable payments into your bank account? And, will they only accept the moneys deposited, therefore now assessed on NET pension, not gross? British Embassy have really screwed us over this time.

I suppose we could go the 400,000/800,000 baht in the bank route, but freeing up such moneys not always easy if in investments back in the UK. I can make 3 times as much in interest in the UK as a Thai deposit account, and also interbank transfers are more expensive for me than just using an ATM (not a discussion point here, but i have done my homework on this).

Finally, if transferring in the money, there is the 3 month maturing rule - my extension is in 3 months time! Hopefully getting the embassy letter early will still be ok for this time, but next time .....